Feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and pessaries, are generally used by women within the vagina for feminine needs, such as, e.g., to absorb menstrual or other body exudates, for pelvic support, and/or for other feminine needs. Such feminine hygiene products can be inserted into the vagina digitally, such as, e.g., by using a finger, or can be inserted into the vagina by using an applicator.
It is a common misconception that the vagina is shaped like a cylindrical tube. In actuality, the vagina is a pocket that is irregular in shape with a length from the introitus to the cervix. When not distended by a foreign object, the vagina may resemble a pear shape in appearance when viewed from the coronal or front view of the female anatomy. From the sagittal or side view, the vagina is a long, thin muscular structure. Menstrual fluid typically enters the vagina through the cervix, which is generally located near the top of the vagina where the vagina is widest.
Currently available catamenial tampons are typically in the form of a cylinder prior to insertion in the vagina. Such tampons are generally formed from pledgets larger in size than the vaginal orifice. The pledgets are compressed to a smaller, generally cylindrical form with a circular cross-sectional shape in order to facilitate insertion into the vagina via the relatively narrow introitus. As fluid is absorbed from the vagina, these tampons are intended to re-expand toward their original pre-compressed size to eventually effectively cover the vaginal cavity against fluid leakage or bypass; however, such tampons can fail to re-expand sufficiently or fast enough to provide good coverage and thus can fail to provide sufficient leakage protection. As a result, menstrual fluid can bypass the tampon and leak outside the user's body.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a tampon with improved expansion generally focused in the width dimension, such as, e.g., to achieve maximum side to side coverage of the vagina. Because the ability of a tampon to expand widthwise can be limited when compressing a pledget into a circular cylindrical form, such as, e.g., the form of tampons generally commercially available today, it would also desirable to provide a tampon having an improved aspect ratio as compared to commercially available tampons. Furthermore, circular cylindrical tampons having improved expansion in the width dimension can be difficult to orient within the vagina such that the area of greatest expansion will correspond to the width of the vagina, because, for example, the symmetry of the compressed tampon shape conceals the proper orientation of the tampon from the user. This can result in the user inadvertently inserting the tampon such that the area of greatest expansion occurs perpendicular to the vagina instead of aligned with the width. As such, it would be desirable to provide a tampon with the ability to properly self-orient within the vagina of a user.